Fast mobile IPv6 handover packet loss performance: measurement for emulated real time traffic

Mobile IPv6 provides comprehensive mobility management for the IPv6 protocol. Yet, it has been known for some time that the default mobile IPv6 protocol for handover between subnets can result in packet drops, which cause a user-perceptible deterioration in a real time traffic. Recent work has defined several new algorithms for Mobile IPv6 handover. These algorithms consist of two components: preconfiguring the care of address when it is known, and establishing a source route-based tunnel between the old access router and the new so that the mobile node can continue to receive its traffic on the new link under its old care of address. In this paper, we present measurements of the fast Mobile IPv6 (FMIPv6) handover algorithms on a handover emulator. While the algorithms can reduce the number of packet drops, some amount of buffering helps smooth handover. In addition, algorithms differ in their ability to reduce handover packet drops, depending on the wireless link characteristics.